Govt to act on e-cigarettes and hookah?

Ask concerned MP’s at the Rajya Sabha during a session to which Minister of Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda gave a detailed reply. While giving this information, the minister gave an assurance of taking action as soon as possible. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Maharashtra has sent a letter to the Centre regarding the e-cigarette ban

There have been rampant cases of hookah as well as e-cigarettes smoking in the country. E-cigarette and hookah got more and more young generation into its addiction. The MPs raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

To the questions asked by the MP’s, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare replied, “Government of India has formed a three-member council that is committed to look into the issues of e-cigarettes. We are aware about it. One is legal implication of nicotine-drug induced systems, second is health effects and third is advocacy. All the sub-groups have given their reports to the government. We are looking for the legal opinion. And soon government will decide about action. Many countries have regulated it and many have banned it so after the legal opinion we will be working on it.”

So far, the FDA of Maharashtra has written a letter to the central government to ban e-cigarettes. States like Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Kerala have already banned it. The Central Government was also issuing advisory to alert the states about e-cigarettes and health hazards.

Meanwhile, Cong MP from Maharashtra Rajani Patil raised the question about hookah on the floor of the house. To which Nadda stated, “We are also seeking the legal opinion in this regards.”

During the question hour in the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairman of the house, Venkaiah Naidu asked the minister to explain the meaning of e-cigarette to all the MPs. The Health Minister explained that e-cigarette means non-tobacco electronic cigarette.

After the introduction of e-cigarette, many studies have stated that the younger generation has got into the habit of smoking cigarettes.